


Rehomed

by Davechicken



Series: The Pilot and his Knight [47]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 04:41:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7876897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kylo takes in strays.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rehomed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beautifullights](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beautifullights/gifts).



Kylo started with five. Then five more. 

Now there’s a database, and he has feeding schedules, meds to dose, checkups to arrange. Maybe it’s a weird use of his talents, but Kylo finds it’s personally reassuring and rewarding. He can make a real, tangible difference in the creatures under his care. Some of them might even have been ‘put to sleep’ (which is entirely unacceptable to him) if not for his intervention.

They still need love. It’s not their fault if people hurt them and made them afraid of sentients. It’s not their fault if they growl or bite, when they’re just trying to protect themselves. They want to survive, that’s all, and he takes extra care to let them know he wants the same for them. With time and respect, they start to see him as pack, friend, or Alpha. Whatever works. (Occasionally he has gaggles of babies following him on his rounds.)

It’s not like he had a pet growing up, he’d been too mobile for it to be fair to a creature. This base is settled enough for his menagerie, and he feels… Calm. Even when he gets bitten or scratched. It’s normal. The pain is temporary, and when they stop biting, the progress is measurable and motivating. 

Admittedly, his little enterprise isn’t perfect for them; but he feeds them, runs medical scans, socialises those that he can, and rehomes those who are capable of it. It’s hard to let go, but he still gets to see them, and know they’re happy. 

His favourite thing, though, is when people whose careers prevent them from taking one home borrow the less-personable ones, the ones who can never learn to use a litter tray, or not to jump and chew. Those ones still get love, and Poe is likely to thank for it, because the pilots are the prime culprits. 

Like now. There’s a squeal, a bark, and Snap is floored by something that could break his neck. He’s laughing as Jess points at the mass of orange and scales, and the man gets licked all over. 

Poe grins bedside him. “Make a good couple, huh?”

“Little Bastard would never shut up at night,” Kylo proclaims. LB has a real name, but no one ever uses it.

“I meant him and Jess, you nerf!”

Kylo grins. He knew. 

“Still think I’d rather take LB… or you.”

“It’s a good job I love you, babe.”

Kylo nuzzles him like one of the loth-cats the children love. “You love my children, too. Don’t lie.”

“…I do until they hurl in my helmet.”

“One time, Poe, one time.”

Snap ends up straddling LB as Jess complains at him for showing off. Kylo is glad his waifs and strays get a second chance. They’re important.


End file.
